How much is too much?

I confess: I'm a combat sports junkie. I started off boxing, had a blast, and after taking several free classes at a local BJJ school, I'm going to add BJJ and kickboxing (this offered through the same school) to my menu. As a young man starved for experience, I want to take all the classes I can, but the thing is, I'm already doing three hours of boxing four days a week. And when I mean adding BJJ/kickboxing to my menu, I mean that there may be some wonderful weekend days where I have seven hours of martial arts training available to me.

I have the time and I'm well-conditioned (3hrs/4x/week boxing + 2hrs/day roadwork will build some pretty strong basics). I feel capable of making it through all of the training. That's not bravado - compared to my largely self-directed boxing training and conditioning, grappling training is easy on my body, and I feel more than capable of tacking a full three hours of grappling and an hour of kickboxing onto my grueling daily striking regimen. Of course, I won't try to do it all at once; just in case, I plan to take one hour of grappling in addition to boxing, then two, and so on until I reach my limit. My question is, while I think I might be capable, should I? Are there any short- or long-term risks for such activity? I mean, how much is too much?

Just for the record, I'm doing all of this for kicks. I am involved in amateur boxing, but I'm not sure if I want to be involved in ammy MMA. (If I feel comfortable and competent enough to compete, that just might change.) I want to participate in sports I love, but I don't want to do so at the risk of doing some freaky damage to my body.

If you start struggling with sleep, loosing appetite, tiredness and depression, weakness. A lot of small injuries and a decrease in sexual desire are all indications of over training.
I would take a couple of days off (completely off) every month, beside at least one day off every week. You need to remember that you do this for the long run, and that you need a fit body when you are 67 and still working for a living... IMO, if you are competing in boxing and want to see where it takes you than focus just on boxing and the fitness needed for it. If you aren't set on being a competitive boxer, and just want to be the best MA possible than reduce the boxing to 3 times a week and add 2-3 times of bjj/kickboxing. 6 days a week of MA, one class per day is enough.

If you start struggling with sleep, loosing appetite, tiredness and depression, weakness. A lot of small injuries and a decrease in sexual desire are all indications of over training.
I would take a couple of days off (completely off) every month, beside at least one day off every week. You need to remember that you do this for the long run, and that you need a fit body when you are 67 and still working for a living.

Thanks for your advice! I'll keep that in mind and be careful to be more aware of my body.

Originally Posted by erezb

IMO, if you are competing in boxing and want to see where it takes you than focus just on boxing and the fitness needed for it. If you aren't set on being a competitive boxer, and just want to be the best MA possible than reduce the boxing to 3 times a week and add 2-3 times of bjj/kickboxing. 6 days a week of MA, one class per day is enough.

I am most focused on boxing, but there's no gym near my college. When I'm at school (Mon-Thurs), all I can do is roadwork. BJJ on top of that doesn't detract from anything. When I'm home (Thurs-Sun), I do my boxing training (3hrs/day) along with everyday roadwork (2hrs/day). Any boxing training after that seems redundant, since I can seldom find sparring partners in my weight class. :c Once I've done five rounds of heavy bag, double-end bag, shadow-boxing, jump-rope and stair-running along with a hundred or so push-ups and plenty of chin-ups and pull-ups, I run out of things to do. If there's more I can do, let me know and I'll put grappling on the back burner (though I'd certainly fit it in wherever I could).

Well, spar as much as you can, do you work out with people? in a boxing gym or alone? If that is the case, than mon-thur you should (if you cant find a boxing or even kickboxing gym) definitely take BJJ. I don't think you should run as much though, you are not training for a comp so why burn out your knees and back? if you want to prepare for amy bouts that last 2-2.5 minutes than do interval runs for the length of the rounds with 1 minute breaks. i think 6-7 rounds like that coupled with MA training and power training is enough.

When I say roadwork, I'm including not only running, but my sprints/jumps/pushups/situps, jump-rope and mile-long cooldown. I agree that two hours straight of just running would be entirely foolish. The problem is, I don't know what other MA training to do. As of right now, I don't have a place to do bagwork (the BJJ dojo has some, since it's got MMA-geared classes, but I don't know if they'll let you come in and work the bags outside of class time - I need to ask about that!), and I don't know how to lift weights, though the campus gym (which I have free access to) has plenty.

EDIT: foolish me, I forgot to answer the questions. I do try to spar, but sparring partners are few and far between in my weight class (I'm 5'6" 130lbs QQ). Depending on my luck, I can spar from four/five times a week to none at all :| I work largely alone in a boxing gym, though I do get personal instruction on weekly basis.